She adds people typically overspend at the grocery store because they want convenience, but end up overpaying for items they can cook themselves at a cheaper price.

“It really doesn’t take too long to wash some spinach, make a basic vinaigrette or pull the skin off chicken if need be,” she continues. “And, we fall prey to impulse purchases like snack foods and fancy drinks … make your meal plan, make your shopping list and stick to it.”

Making a budget

Neilsen says whatever your grocery shopping budget is (for the purpose of this piece, we have a $50 weekly budget for a single-person household), it needs to fit the finances you actually have.

“I also encourage people to look deeper into their spending as a whole,” she says. “Do they feel their grocery budget is limited, but spend $5 to $10 at the coffee shop daily?”

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She also recommends sticking with in-store brands — in Canada, some popular ones include President’s Choice, Compliments and No Name — and avoid buying food with “functional” ingredients.

“Often, the tiny sprinkle of probiotic or omega 3 in a food won’t do much for your health but you pay a hefty price premium.”

Below, we break down a grocery list with a budget of $50 — of course, this can change depending how many people you have in your household as well as where you live in Canada. The prices of these items can also change depending on where you live.

Whatever your budget is (you are free to use this list as a guide), make sure you keep meal planning in mind.

“I definitely think $50 is manageable as long as people are committed to scratch cooking and keeping a small rotation of basic food.”

Protein and dairy

“When buying meats, buy bone in, skin on … you trade cost for convenience. Buy tougher cuts of meat that require long slow cooking processes,” she says. And since dried beans take longer to cook, do a weekend batch cook.

“Freeze whatever you won’t use in the next few days into recipe-sized portions.”

Also, this list includes a variety of protein options, choose a couple that fit your diet.